#I have a lot of feelings about Half orc Barbarian Jason

[jackdaw-and-hattrick]

A not at all comprehensive Batfam DnD races and class list:

Bruce: Human Rogue

Dick: Wood Elf Bard

Jason: Half-orc Barbarian

Tim: Dragonborn Wizard

Damien: Half-drow Palatine

Cass: Dragonborn Rogue

Steph: Half-elf Bard

Barbra: Human Wizard

Duke: Wood Elf Cleric

Alfred: Aasimar Palatine (retired)

[theirishhalfling]

31, 32, 39!

31. Tell me about your current party!

I have three current parties in three games and don’t want to play favourites, so bear with ;)

The-one-where-I-play-a-paladin:

  -    Watcher, human paladin-swashbuckler, a doormat in human form, crown prince of not-Spain, just wants to do help people but by god is that still a lot to hope for, something of babysitter who gets ignored more of the time, was adopted by/adopted a god who’s a vampire, has daddy issues, and all his charisma is in his hair

  -    Axaliah, half-elf barbarian-sorcerer from the north, very much a sulky teen who likes to get her way, loves the cold and ice magic, and makes Watcher despair the second she opens her mouth 99% of the time

  -    Gallaren, warforged cavalier, a noble literal suit of armour, pretty down to earth and reliable, has a super cool metal pegaus called Cheval, and someone who’s finally a civilised face who Watcher could seek solace in

  -    Vetrak, kobold arcana cleric, the newest member of the group, “can you help me with this problem? Oh okay I’ll just follow you instead…:(”, a master of sass, a massive fan of dragons, likes to ride on Galleran’s shoulders, and is the only one who can get away with insulting Axaliah

The-one-where-I-play-a-bard:

  -    Zeke, gnome bard-warlock, everything must be purple and gold, thinks he’s about twice his height and acts it, a lover of the violin, not the most polite of fellows, a little bit of an alcoholic, has memory issues but not because of the drink, and has a love-hate with his feylord patron who he finds rather attractive but also likely killed everyone he ever knew

  -    Solomon, half-orc paladin, down-to-earth, a little slow but has some smarts hidden in there, the (usually) voice of reason, a wall of steel who’s perfect to hide behind, spent a while living in the feywild, and the only one to know Zeke has holes in his memory after they blurted secrets at one another trying to solve a puzzle

  -    Fred, human wild magic sorcerer, who has somehow only been a potted plant once, has blue crystals in his face, very French, might as well be a bard as he likes to play the ‘peep-de-bag’ (bag pipes) a lot of the time, likes to travel around on his broom, and occasional argues wind vs string instruments with Zeke

  -    Xanthie, wood elf monk, very much a natural girl, doesn’t like being unable to see the sky, can come across as a bit blunt, knows what she wants and will get it, stole a magical horse and flaunted the fact in front of its owner, curb stomped two innocent pixies because she hates fey, and nearly got caught alongside Zeke breaking into a mansion

The-one-where-I-play-a-warlock-and-has-had-two-sessions:

  -    Eziah, aasimar warlock, the typical holier-than-thou fellow, just wants to impress his patron and earn points, but is actually rather selfish, and is a flashy one who likes his gold

  -    Lao, aasimar monk, pretty much a hobo who’s never seen a bath in his life, all hair, all tattoos, all the anger and vices, and the kind of person you’d cross the street to avoid

  -    Darcath, eladrin ranger, on the run from some nasty fey, has no qualms in killing things, very straight to the point, and nearly caused a TPK thanks to the aforementioned nasty fey

  -    Burge, human druid, an actual teenager but very polite and will call you out on your cursing (Lao), hid under a table during an orc assault, very attached to his horse and cart, and is on the lookout for his missing father

32. Most memorable NPC you’ve encountered in a game you played in.

This is tough, because I’ve come across a lot of NPCs across a fair few games. I think I’d say a young NPC king called Jason from the first game I played with Dekker.

The DM used him as a bit of a comedy character, who the fighter of the group hated and the others didn’t respect because he was so naive, and was essentially a Dekker fanboy. But from a character perspective, Jason was the first person who was actually, y’know, nice to Dekker. 

I think Jason believing Dekker was a hero was partly responsible for him actually deciding that maybe he could change as a person. And, in a game of many, many deaths, Jason actually survived. And made Dekker a godparent to his kids once things were cleaned up.

39. Favourite villain you’ve defeated?

This is also a tough one, because as villains go, there have been them across campaigns, but they either have yet to be defeated or we didn’t actually get to defeat them in necessarily a satisfying way.  So I can’t necessarily answer this question properly because it’d be easy to pick a boss we’ve fought that was fun, but I wouldn’t call them a ‘favourite villain’.

In Dekker’s game there was an evil NPC king we loved to hate, but his defeat was incredibly lacklustre and swallowed up in a generic mass combat. And the main villain(s) in that campaign we didn’t actually get to defeat ourselves – they just… Died.

On the other hand, the villain in Watcher’s campaign is great, but we’ve yet to defeat him (if we manage it haaaa). He’s a solar, so a nice twist on the good slant of an angelic being, who wants to wipe the world clean (again, he was stopped before). And since we were the ones who re-released him into the world, there’s nothing like the crippling feeling of responsibility and guilt weighing down your shoulders when tackling a villain. He’s been busy killing our loved ones, potential allies, wiped out a large city and is likely stalking us as he gets up to no good in the background.

[scarlet-shattering]

Tora

The first shard of Lacera is a place called Tora. The shard is Lacera’s version of the Prime Material Plane, that is, where most mundane and mortal beings exist. Its most notable feature is that it has the most natural barriers of any other continent, boasting not one, but two natural mountain ranges, and even a (relatively) large sea. Tora is home to most humans in Lacera. It consists of several city-states, which are listed below: Brinewater: A rough-and-tumble port town famous for its crime and piracy. However, most trade between Tora’s island nations and the mainland go through the city, so it has a prominent upper class. The most prominent member is the city’s elected mayor and unofficial crime boss, Edna VanLee, the Lady of Jade. Inspired by Rogueport from Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door and Bilgewater, from League of Legends Damaria: The largest city-state in Tora is also the most intimidating. It’s a massive and dense place, with its most notable feature being its great Fire Eternal, a huge brazier in the center of the city. The theocratic society claims that this fire was placed by the gods to give the city light and order, but it bears no marking from any deity known to Lacera. The city is ruled by its oppressive Consulate and its lead member, Archbishop Rolf, whose anti-mage and anti-nonhuman doctrines permeate the city. Inspired by Novigrad from the Witcher 3 and somewhat by Magic the Gathering’s Aether Revolt storyline The Isles of Sin: Far to the east of Tora’s Ancient Sea lies a location that officially does not exist. The Isles of Sin are the last remnants of a great island nation that existed before the Shattering. They lie at the very end of the continent, where a gigantic waterfall flows off the edge of the planet into nothingness. All that remains is a half-sunken castle that is likely crawling with undead when the players first visit it. The place is shrouded in a constant fog, and seems to radiate with a sedentary evil. Inspired by League Of Legends’ Shadow Isles The Triple Peaks: At the northernmost end of the continent lie three great mountains. Constantly swirling with blizzards, the peaks mark the end of civilization for many. For a few, though, life still yet thrives. Scattered barbarian tribes that all make up one greater society dot the peaks’ southern edge, and they surround the ruins of old monasteries long forgotten and abandoned. However, a few of the barbarian chiefs still summit the mountain every few years, as the ancient monks used to do as a pilgrimage. Inspired by: Literally the name from a name generator Worldsend: North of even the Triple Peaks, on their far side, lies a simple and small cluster of huts and igloos. The society itself is unassuming, but their tiny settlement surrounds a gigantic anchor for a gigantic chain. From the very summit of the Triple Peaks, one can see the great chain as it stretches from the surface of Tora all the way into the heavens, attached to the gigantic secondary planet known by select few. This captive planet is called Satellite, and its existence is one that the elders of Worldsend protect and keep secret. The gigantic Triple Peaks just barely block view of the Satellite from the rest of the continent, and the elders of Worldsend are told from birth that it is their duty to maintain that great secret. Inspired by: Mostly my idea but the planet-chained-to-planet thing is from Sonic CD (seriously) Littlewharf: This small southwestern trading town is on the very edge of the Ancient Sea, near the Erstall Plains. It’s a town known for its fine jewelry and simple, laid-back lifestyle. Inspired by: A player needed a place of origin lol

Iron Highlands: The second mountain range on Tora is to the far west. The only Dwarven stronghold on the continent, the Iron Highlands is a very regimented and orderly society. There are very few non-Dwarves that live there, and outsiders are rarely trusted. Every Dwarf on Tora can trace their lineage back to the Highlands if they go far back enough, and Highlands Dwarves are extensively proud of that. There are few other places on Tora where one can find a society with smiths as refined as those in the Highlands, so whenever its residents need something from the outside world (which is rare) they pay for it with beautifully crafted steel. Inspired by: Sooooort of the Lonely Mountain from LOTR but mostly just Standard Dwarf Stuff Vesura: Only recently has Vesura been anything other than just another city-state trying to get by. There was nothing too remarkable about the place until, as the story goes, two women, one in red, one in white, essentially waltzed their way into the city’s ruling class and eventually became its queens. Ever since their reign began, Vesura has prospered, though a murky cloud of darkness always seems to surround the city. Inspired by: Okay so I found the name “Vesura” on a name generator and figured I’d need it for player backstory but I didn’t, so I left it undeveloped until I randomly woke up at 3 AM one morning, grabbed my phone, and typed “Vesura has lesbian vampire queens” into a D&D document and then fell back asleep and that’s how this happened Ravenna: This city is recognizable from far off by its great ebony clock tower. Its current king, Darius Drake, has somewhat fashioned the city after his patron, the Raven Queen, but the city is far from evil. It feels more melancholy than it does morose. One of the more powerful mages on the continent, Lady Rosalind, lives in and maintains the clock tower. Inspired by: (barely) Twilight Town from Paper Mario TTYD, Big Ben in London, Castle Ravenloft from Curse of Strahd (literally just the name). Also Lady Rosalind is my self-insert character and she’s a trans lesbian oneiromancer aka Dream Witch Terrason Woods: The Terrason Woods are the only remaining druidic society on Tora. Depending on which set of players we’re using, they may or may not have burned down, but while they did exist, they were home to many elvish druids and rangers. They’re the only remaining druidic society on all of Lacera that practices turning its members into Wood Woads. Inspired by: Player’s idea, this was me talking him down from making a Wood Woad player character. It was atlas-prime, who I’m not gonna @ because he’s not supposed to see the rest of this post Scaov Pilajan: Another northern society of elves, but this one contrasts the Terrason Woods because it’s a refined and cultured city-state. Its nobility is rather famously wealthy, and it is a mostly self-sufficient nation. Its relationship with Ravenna has been tense recently, because the nobility married off a younger princess to its king, Darius Drakeand she died rather quickly after the birth of her only child, Jason Drake, who wants nothing to do with his mother’s nation. Inspired by: Player backstory city that I expanded on a lot, also Darius and his (still unnamed) wife had a happy and consensual marriage out of love, no bullshit arranged marriages here, Jason also doesn’t hate his mom’s legacy he just wants to adventure Ihr Atma and Ihr Atoll: Islands in-between the Isles of Sin and Brinewater. Underdeveloped at the moment, but inspired by Skellige from the Witcher 3 probably Closed Forest: Basically a “don’t walk to the edge of the continent” thing, so random assholes donn’t learn that the world was shattered. Inspired by: A Yugioh field spell (seriously look it up)

Divisum: Same thing as the Closed Forest but it’s a big fuckin’ canyon Erstall Plains: A sea of grass where a barbarian tribe roams and lives off the land. Inspired by: PC needed a place of origin and was lazy about it

Clearsky Hills: A small secluded set of hills where the party’s house currently is. It’s called Clearsky Hideout, which is inspired by a Skyrim mod of the same name. More detail on that later but I dare you to have a more #lit party hideout than this one

And that is Tora, the first continent of Lacera! Holy butts it has a lot of places. But yeah it’s mostly humans or less scary nonhuman races like elves, halflings, and gnomes, though it has scattered half-orcs, Goliaths, Dragonborn, and Tieflings. The most notable thing about the continent (other than Worldsend) is that the societies of Tora are mostly unaware of the Shattering, where other continents tell children about the event as a part of basic history instruction. Very few people on Tora know the world is wounded, and even fewer have traveled to the other shards.